The present invention relates to a method for creating a route plan for a group of agricultural machine systems to use to work a territory.
The present invention also relates to a route planning system for creating a route plan, and a method for controlling a group of agricultural machine systems while they work a territory, using a shared route plan created accordingly.
Given that the performance of agricultural machine systems, i.e., working vehicles such as combine harvesters or forage harvesters, and tractors with various attachments such as showing machines, fertilizer spreaders, spraying devices, impellers, swathers, etc., has increased continually, the planning of the working sequence has also grown in significance in recent years. With harvesting in particular, the amount of time available to complete the work is usually limited, due to the weather, and this window of time is often not used in an optimal manner due to lack of resource planning. Precise resource planning is also important in order to attain the theoretically maximum possible performance of the machines in practical application.
To attain this goal of optimal resource utilization, route planning systems and route planning methods were developed, which are used to determine an optimized route for working the territory, e.g., a certain field, for the particular machine system. The particular machine system can then be driven along this route—depending on the configuration of the machine system—either fully automatically, semi-automatically, or simply manually. Route planning systems of this type and automatic steering systems typically function using satellite-based navigation devices, e.g., GPS receivers (GPS=Global Positioning System). Various correction procedures are used to improve accuracy, such as DGPS (differential GPS) for a GPS method.
A route planning system is described, e.g., in EP 0 821 296 A2. Using this system, the edge of the field is driven around with a GPS device, the coordinates of the field contour are recorded, and additional data specific to the working vehicle—the width, in particular—are entered. Using an electronic data processing device, a digitized working route is generated based on the driving route using a certain computation algorithm, and a certain optimization criterium for the working route is taken into account. Typical optimization criteria could be, e.g., that any auxiliary driving required, such as paths to be driven to turn around at the ends of the field or to refuel a combine harvester, etc., must be kept to a minimum. Another optimization criterium can be that the time required to work a certain field must be kept to a minimum, with the understanding that somewhat longer turnaround paths that can be traversed more quickly because they do not require a change in driving direction must be accommodated. Optimization can also be carried out with regard for several different optimization criteria in order to reach an optimal compromise between highly diverse optimization conditions.
In most cases, agricultural plots are worked by several machine systems. This means the field is worked by an entire group of agricultural machine systems that perform their work in succession as part of a process chain, as is the case, e.g., with a sowing machine and subsequent systems for applying sprayed substances and fertilizers, or that can operate in parallel, e.g., several harvesting machines that work together to harvest a large area. In principle, these various machine systems—provided they have corresponding route planning and automation systems—can each calculate their own ideal route, and then work it.
Before this can take place, however, every machine system must determine at least the outer contour of the territory to be worked, e.g., by driving around it once. This type of procedure takes a relatively great deal of time. It is indeed possible to use driving routes for other applications that were created previously in entirety by a route planning system for other applications, as described in EP 0 821 296 B1 and DE 10 2004 027 242 1. This is possible, however, only when the machine system is the same, or, at the least, when it is a machine system with the same or very similar working parameters, such as working width, turning radius, etc.
In addition, problems occur when several machines work on a territory—which is usually large—at the same time. When the routes are driven, the particular drivers must pay close attention to ensuring that they do not collide with other machine systems, because routes intersect, for example. Unnecessary waiting periods may ensue, in order to avoid collisions, or to wait for resources that are shared by the machine systems, e.g., when several combine harvesters must use the same unloading vehicle. In addition, with larger territories, a great detail of time is required to create the necessary reference lines, obtain further geographical route planning data, and to create a complete route plan.